A Brief History of Pacific Rim University
"Pacific Rim University" is an informal gathering of scholars, initially a small group of Russian and East European specialists adjoined to Oregon's university in Eugene during the mid-1970s, but since consisting of Fellows in Kyoto, Vladivostok, Honolulu, and along the West Coast of the United States.
It is a Socratic university in the truest sense, free of institutional coercions, neither issuing formal certifications nor charging fees. Tutelage is undertaken by Fellows entirely at their own option and by mutual agreement with natural associates, considered Fellows for the duration of their interaction.
Conventions of accreditation are superseded by independent recognition in the open world of scholarship. The work of Fellows is widely published, both in the commercial and in the academic press.
Although otherwise non-public, Pacific Rim University received an endowment from one of its late Fellows, one of whose long interests had been the possible establishment of Pacific Rim University Press, for the purpose of independently publishing strong scholarship in areas of interest to Fellows. The not-for-profit Press has been established in memory of that Fellow, the endowment to be used as a non-salary administrative fund in support of initial publication and distribution costs. Sales are therefore at real cost, with proceeds used to reimburse the enabling fund.
Nota bene: Institutions requiring paperwork beyond a receipt (always sent) will have to find an alternative method of payment, or an alternative vendor; the Press's volunteer staff will not prepare additional forms of any kind.
Insofar as possible, the Press's publications are limited to permanent, archival-quality, non-electromagnetic formats.
